Welcome 2014 Summer Interns!
Each year interns arrive to spend their summer with Trustees for Alaska. They conduct legal research, draft pleadings, participate in client meetings and assist with litigation. Interns provide critical legal support to Trustees at the same time as they gain valuable on the ground legal experience. Each one has a story to tell.
Kelly, Jacob and Courtney (left to right) successfully scaled Flattop in early June. Named for its broad flat peak, the trail up to its top is the most popular ascent in the Anchorage area.
JACOB DUGINSKI studies law at Lewis and Clark Law School. He will start his third year in the fall after his internship with Trustees for Alaska. Prior to coming to Trustees he worked with the Earthrise Environmental Litigation Clinic at Lewis and Clark. Before law school, Jacob attended the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he obtained a B.S. in Philosophy with a concentration in Environmental Ethics. When asked why he wanted to spend this summer in Anchorage with Trustees, he had this to say:
“Trustees for Alaska is an organization that I had only heard good things about, and I’m curious to know more about what it would be like to practice law in Alaska. I’ve known for a while that I want to practice in the non-profit sector defending the environment, which made Trustees the perfect fit. Plus, the allure of the last frontier was inescapable for me. Already, my experience with Trustees and Alaska has surpassed any expectations that I may have had. From the start of my internship I began working with complex legal issues that are especially unique due to the environmental law landscape that generated them. Trustees provides an excellent learning environment with some of the best staff and attorneys I have had the pleasure of working with. Alaska itself is indescribable, so I won’t shame it with words; I’m just happy to have the opportunity to contribute towards its preservation.”
COURTNEY SIMMONS graduated from the University of Delaware in 2011, where she double majored in Natural Resource Management and Agriculture and Natural Resources while minoring in Resource Economics and Wildlife Conservation. Following her passion for Environmental Law and Policy, Courtney completed her first year of legal studies at Vermont Law School in 2013 before transferring to Boston University School of Law (BUSL), concentrating more broadly in Public Interest Law. While at BUSL, Courtney became an Article Editor for the Public Interest Law Journal, as well as a member of the Environmental and Energy Law Association, Student Animal Legal Defense Fund, and the Native American Law Society.
Courtney jumped at the opportunity to join the Trustees for Alaska team for the summer after being drawn the Alaska environment and the work Trustees does on wildlands, wildlife, and marine ecosystem protection and conservation. This summer Courtney hopes to learn more about the Arctic Refuge, protecting Alaska’s threatened and endangered wildlife, and defending their natural habitats. Outside of the office, Courtney hopes to explore the Alaska landscape by land and by sea, taking advantage of the vast amount of opportunities to hike, bike, kayak, and fish. And hopefully seeing plenty of Alaska’s wildlife along the way!
KELLY NOKES joins the Trustees team as a rising third-year law student from Vermont Law School (VLS) where she is currently working toward a J.D. and a Master’s degree in Environmental Law and Policy. After growing up in suburban Chicago, Kelly received a B.S. in Outdoor Recreation Leadership and Management and in Environmental Conservation from Northern Michigan University on the shores of Lake Superior in 2008.
Prior to law school, Kelly most recently worked as a program administrator with Columbia Riverkeeper in Hood River, Oregon for four years. An avid mountain biker and trail runner, Kelly hopes to return to the mountains and forested playgrounds of the West upon graduation from VLS. When asked why she wanted to spend her summer working for Trustees, she had this to say:
“I feel privileged and honored to get to work with such a well-respected group of public-interest environmental attorneys and am excited to lend my skills toward protecting some of our country’s last remaining truly wild places. I look forward to sharing many adventures exploring the stunning mountains and landscapes of this beautiful state as well!”